Apocalyptic Wasteland
by LacieCain
Summary: Lacie is a 22 year old college girl who has to survive the trials of living in an apocalyptic world full of the walking dead. This is based of a role play I am currently doing with three friends of mine. I changed a few things but I think our story needs to be told. I do not own the Walking Dead or the character Bella Valasari. Merle also never died in this version.
1. Prologue

The sun was shining through the trees caressing her face with it's warmth. The branch Lacie fell asleep on the night prior provided her safely from them. The people without voices or souls left to guide them. The world was over run with these "people", who with their aggression tear up those with life still left surging through their veins. Her friends, when she still had them around that is, called them "walkers". For aside from ripping up living things all they did was walk. The "walkers" weren't even a real danger when there were one or two, it was when they multiplied that danger set in. Opening her hazel eyes Lacie let out a sigh. Traveling by forest, when a person is alone these days is safer than being in the city. The walkers couldn't climb trees. Finding it easier to tame Lacie put her black hair was put up in ponytails. This hairstyle also kept her hair from sticking to the back of her neck from this heavy heat. Lacie had been alone for six months after losing both of her good friends to two separate hoards of walkers. Using all the hunting and fighting skills she had learned from her brother, she had survived. That was all one could do these days was survive.

Unstrapping herself from the tree Lacie put both her sleeping bag and the rope back in to the backpack she carried along with the sheath for her katana, and gun holster then climbed down. Time to hunt for food and get a move on. Her gun a Beretta handgun wasn't much for hunting but it did the job. Through the trees she saw something that was rather rare these days, a deer. Excited, Lacie used the tree she had slept as camouflage. Aiming the gun, a frantic man runs right into Lacie with ease, seeing as she was so petite in stature. "What the hell!" She yelled at the clumsy man."We have to get out of here! There is a hoard behind me!" His eyes fixated on her, shocked that there wasn't any worry in her eyes. "Get away from me! You made me miss my kill!" Looking around, the deer was gone. "You owe me a deer!" The man agreed he would get her a deer if she saved him. Dragging the man she found two walkers feasting on a rabbit."We need to kill them and rub their guts on us." Lacie went to the walkers executed one with her katana through the back of the head, and kicked the other one back when it lunged at her. Ripping the katana back through the decayed skin and skull of the walker she had just killed, her eyes remained on the other one. This walker only had one eye and plenty of bullet holes in it's torso. As if it were practiced her katana went through the eye of the second walker."Hold your breath" Walkers being decayed people always smelt awful but when you cut them open the rotting flesh smell was almost unbearable. Her katana cut the flesh easily of the walkers stomach. Blood poured out along with it's intestines and liver. "They won't be able to tell us apart from others like them if we smell the of like animals." The man gagged on his on vomit as Lacie started to wipe the walker blood and guts on herself."Well aren't you going to do the same? Don't be a pansy." Shaking a bit he kneeled next to her and began slowly doing the same. "Now just walk slowly. Do you have a camp?" Just then growls could be heard echoing through the trees. Twigs snapping under the walkers feet made them rather easy to hear in the forest. Shaking the man nodded and began leading the way. The walkers had caught up to the two in no time. After a little while the man welcomed the walkers as only unwanted company instead of nightmares.

Two miles before his camp the two broke away from the walkers as not to lead them to the mans people. When they got to his camp no one really seemed to care that the man returned at all. The group had two RVs, a few tents, and a picnic table. "There you are safe but you still owe me a kill." Lacie started uselessly wiping the blood and guts off her shirt and skirt, it had mostly dried. "Yes I know. Why don't you stay here until I do? My name is James by the way thank you for the help." Frowning at the idea of being apart of his group she refused to shake his now extended hand. "I will stay close by" She point up to a tree near by that she observed could hold her weight. Two men approached Lacie and James."Who's your friend?" Laughed one. "Yeah she's a pretty little thing." Giving the intruders death glares she began to walk away. Ignoring any extra comments that the "idiots" had to say she began to hunt for some kind of food. Idiots. This isn't a bar! It's the end of the world. When Lacie was sure she was far enough that the gun shot would not lead the walkers to the camp the real hunt began. The sky was losing it's light and the temperature was starting to be a little more bearable. However the night was dangerous so she needed to make it quick or wait until tomorrow to eat. The forest was overly quite, her foot steps were the one thing to make noise. After a few moments it was time to give up and she headed back toward James camp. When she got back there he had been waiting for her with some food and a wet towel. "I am guessing you had no luck." James teased watching her come back empty handed. "The damn hoard must have scared them off!The damn bastards!" She growled and looked away from her new acquaintance. "Well here." James pushed the wet towel, a bag of chips and a water bottle in to her arms. "The water is from the creak near by. I promise to get you that deer tomorrow hunter girl." She accepted his offer on the fact that he owed her. Leaning against a tree she began to wipe off the dried walker blood. "You never did tell me your name." James ran his left hand through his golden blonde locks trying to make conversation."My name is none of your concern. I will be gone tomorrow." The sound in her voice was flat and unfeeling. Once Lacie got all the walker blood off of her that would come off she handed the towel back to James. "Do you want to come and meet the others?" Shaking her head she turned around and headed toward her tree. "Are you going to be comfortable up there." His last attempt to get her to converse failed and he watched her take two knives out and climb up the tree to a high branch.

The next morning Lacie found herself witnessing sunrise. The sky beautifully lit with light blues, purples and hints of yellow. Hours and minutes being no longer important. The human race began to rely on the position of the sun, to give them an idea about how long until they had to go back into hiding. The height of the branch she was on allowed her to see the entire camp below her. Only the person on shift to watch for walkers was awake. Adjusting her bag and weapons she again descended from her branch to hunt. The best time in hunt in Georgia or any hot area was in the morning when the air was still cool. Keeping close to the ground Lacie looked for any animal tracks. This is when she caught a break and found fox tracks. The trail was still warm. Taking out her gun she followed the trail to a slightly lifted tree that held a foxes nest underneath. The three foxes looked at her with big eyes. She took a deep breath then shot two of them in the head, the third got away. It was their survival or hers. The shots echoed through the forest. Birds flew upwards away from the noise. Grabbing her kill Lacie ran quickly away from the spot, for walkers followed not only smell but noise also.

The camp was buzzing with life once again. Laughs and voices could be heard over the quiet wind. Even if she didn't care enough to leave to far from the camp to keep the walkers at bay, their noise would chase away the animals . "Hey Hunter girl" James ran up to her upon her return. "I see you had luck today. I want you to meet my group leader!" He smiled and pointed to a tall man who had his eyes fixated on her. "I am not trying to gain entrance. So why would I have to meet him?" Clutching on to her game, not wanting to share it with the others. "Well you are going to stick around until i get you a deer right? Well I am a terrible hunter so that is going to take a while. Frank would feel more comfortable if he knew who was tagging along." Lacie looked to Frank, who smiled and waved at her. Lacie and James walked over to Frank. "Hello young one. Where are you from?" Was this man belittling her? "That is none of your business. I am only here until James kills a deer. He made me miss one. Once I get what he owes me I will be leaving." James laughed nervously. "James isn't a very good hunter or shot. So I am assuming you will be here for a while. I want your name" Frank seemed hostile now. "My name is Lacie." She wanted to kick his ass but she was out numbered. "Great Lacie. Welcome to the group. I want you to start hunting for us." Lacie wondered where this man had the nerve. "What if I say no?" James could feel the tension heightening. He didn't mean for Lacie to be treated this way. " We will have to end you." Two more men and a woman came to Frank's side. "By the way. You will be sleeping in the RV so someone can always keep an eye on you" The woman with the long brown hair snatched away her kill. "Frank that's not fair she didn't do anything."James yelled at his leader. This caused the bald man standing next to Frank to push the blonde over and pull Lacie in to the RV. A prisoner now...This is why she hated the living.


	2. Chapter 1: Stranger

A month has passed since a group of people and their leader Frank took Lacie prisoner. Every escape attempt was thwarted and followed by a beating. The only reason that Lacie had come there was James, a man not too much older than herself had cost her a deer. Deer were rare these days, most had been eaten by walkers. However she didn't think that one deer was worth staying here. Touching her fingers lightly to the dark bruise on her cheek, she waited for Henry and Oscar. Frank would send the two men with Lacie to make sure she didn't run. Being a good hunter and tracker Lacie was valuable to them. There was not a night since she had came to the camp that they didn't have meat. A shadow hovered over her, grabbed her arm and jerked her to a standing position. To her surprise it was James pulling her from her seat. James was the only one she actually liked even if he was a bit of a coward. "Come we are going for a run." This is the first time he had acted this way to her. Henry and Oscar were behind him with lists ready to hit the road. After putting on all her gear they four of them took off toward the near by town in the groups Impala. The tan leather seat stuck to her skin from the heat and not being able to turn on the air conditioner. Lacie didn't know why they took her out on runs, she wouldn't protect their asses. When they pulled up to the deserted pharmacy Henry handed the list to James. "You will be going in alone. There are only four things on that list so make it fast." The door clicked open and just like that James was already in the pharmacy. "So little lady. Have you decided to stop fighting us and become an official member of the group." Oscar put his hand on her exposed thigh. "Fuck you.." Lacie growled hitting his hand away, Oscar responded by putting his hand on her neck, and pushing her toward the seat. "Be careful girl we can always throw you to the walkers and say it was an accident." Lacie didn't claw at his hand or ask for breath, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction. Even when Oscar did let go she wouldn't let her body gasp instead she let out air slowly. James came out a few minuets later with all the medicines on the list. "Hey guys I got everything." He smiled before seeing the new acquired bruises on his friends neck. To him Lacie looked like a victim of domestic violence, which just enforced to him that his plan had to work. Henry started the car and they were off to the Market.

This was always the hard part, the list was longer and the market was pitch black. The four of them got out of the car, then walked up to the door. "Y-you guys. I think two of us need to stay out and keep watch. What if the walkers come and surround the area? We need at least two of us to warn the other two." James made two steps backwards. "You're just a chicken shit." Oscar growled letting go of Lacie's arm. "He's right Oscar you stay her with him, while me and midget girl go get the supplies." This pissed Oscar off further but, he knew better than to question Henry. "Fine me and pansy boy will wait outside for you." With that Henry dragged Lacie into the dark and silent food market. Their foot steps echoed against the linoleum. Henry took out a flashlight to better illuminate their path. There were randomly placed shopping carts and knocked over displays. The ruins of panic and fear where apparent everywhere she looked. Henry started loading up the empty backpack she was holding. "You know those bruises make you even more beautiful." Henry backed her up against the pasta sauces and touched her face lightly. "We are finally alone and I think it's about time I do something about how I feel." When he grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to him a gun shot went off outside the market. Distracting him long enough for her to stomp on his foot, hit him in the face with the backpack she was holding, and to drop it and run through the darkness."Get Back here you bitch!" Henry's footsteps loud and clear behind her, she stopped and took out her gun. "Where are you bitch?!" Pushing the shopping carts out of the way with all his might making so much noise, Lacie could pin point him on hearing alone. "I'm over here Jackass!" The cans around her shook as Henry showed his ugly mug at the end of the isle, shining the light straight at his opponent. "You are quite an idiot aren't you girl? Now put the gun down and I may be able to forgive you." His tone and body language were condescending, Henry didn't get very far before Lacie shot him in the head. The flashlight Henry was holding was now on the ground still facing Lacie and illuminating the blood coming from his head. The growls from a hoard coming closer could be heard through the market. Lacie quickly Grabbed the two guns, knife and flashlight Henry had on him then frantically searched for a hiding place. Lacie made her way to the back of the store, into the receiving center. Her heart was pounding, but she didn't let it cloud her mind. Through the spaces of the shelves Lacie noticed the door to an office.

The door to the office was unlocked. The office was small with a desk, computer and papers all over it and the floor. A growling sound came from the corner of the room. A walker dressed in a button up shirt, tie and dress pants lunged at her. Dropping Henry's guns Lacie took her knife, put all her force into stabbing the walker through the skull. As the walker fell to the ground the growling from the herd became louder. Lacie knew her best chance was to turn off the flashlight, lay down and pull the walker she had just killed on top of her. Lacie stared into the blackness, quiet and left to her own thoughts_. Who shot the gun earlier. I hope James is okay. Did he plan this out? Did he try to save me from living in that hell? _The sound of walkers could be heard right outside the office door now. Closing her eyes all she could do was wait until the sound was gone. Time went by slowly until the anguished sound of the walking dead dissipated. Slowly she lifted the corpse off her body then let it roll to a position beside her. Sitting up she adjusted her equipment then put the newly acquired shotgun and AK-47 in her backpack allowing them to stick out the zipper. Lacie decided to exit the room with a flashlight in one hand and a knife in the other. The exit door was across the room which seemed like a short distance until she heard stragglers. Walkers never seemed to have a real system. Some of the walking corpses followed each other, then just hung back after the group left. Holding her breath and following the wall she made it to the door and back out to the sunshine.

The sun was high in the sky blinding Lacie for a moment until her eyes adjusted. The back of the market was just an empty parking lot with two dumpsters. Walking down the concrete steps she decided to find out what happened to James. Careful not to make much noise incase more walkers were present Lacie took the alley way on the left hand side of the market. Peeking around the corner she saw four walkers feasting on the bodies of Oscar and James. Pushing her back against the brick wall of the market, Lacie felt a slight pain in her chest. James wasn't a close friend but he was a good man who gave his life to get her out of that camp. "I won't forget you." She whispered then started toward the cars, Lacie had to get out of there. Cars were parked all over the street this was common though. Earlier Henry had to maneuver through this mess. The cars were good to hide behind though. _One man's pain in the ass is another's saving grace. I need to get back to the forest. _Lacie looked for the forest but there was just a wall of shops. _Almost there! _Lacie had made it a mile, she was almost to a clearing, when her excitement clouded her judgment long enough for her to break a glass bottle under her foot. This alerted all the walkers that she had been using the cars to hide from. Sprinting she tried to open any car door or trunk, there was no way she could take on six walkers by herself. Finally the eleventh cars trunk was open allowing her to jump in. The trunk was crowded, the previous owners had actually left quite a few items back there. She could feel a few bags, a tire iron and a car lift against her back. The floor felt like cheap carpet that had been 15 or more years old, and smelled of different chemicals used to keep a car going like motor oil and anti-freeze. _They must have ran out of gas and got attacked. _She frowned to herself considering all the possibilities. Listening to the groans of the walkers outside, trying to determine when they would leave, Lacie heard a quick silence that came over the street then a knocking sound.

The trunk opened revealing a rugged older man with a crossbow pointed at her. A twinge of fear set in, Lacie had just obtained her freedom, if she died now or became a prisoner again James death was for nothing. "Who are ya and what the fuck are ya doin' out here by yaself?" The man hissed at her knowing the same thing she did, not to trust the living. Calming herself, she realized that this man just saved her and deserved to know what ever he asked. "My name is Lacie. I didn't come here alone. I'm not an idiot...I am just alone now." She looked at her knees. Glaring in at Lacie, the man took her arm and hauled her out of the trunk, he let her regain her composure and footing before letting go. Another man was with him she noticed when she surveyed the area. The second man looked younger, Asian, and kept by the light faded blue truck. "I'm sorry to hear about yer friends." The man with the bow calmly said, feeling bad for her. The stranger looked for signs of hostility, but didn't finding. "There's a few questions I want to ask ya." His face regained it's sternness . "Ya best be tellin' the truth, too. Ain't no dangerous fools comin' back with us." Growling a bit to show his guard was up he asked. "How many walkers have ya killed? How many people have ya killed? Why?" he asked all in rapid succession, waiting for the black haired girl to answer. Lacie could understand why the man was asking her these questions, the world had gone to hell. "I've killed quite a few walkers actually...It has to be a hundred or so by now." She didn't know the specific number. "As for people I've killed four. My old friend I used to travel with, we had found a group of people who tried to kill us when we tried to leave. Then the same friend and I found sanctuary in a psych-ward. Apparently 7 male orderlies and a patient woman did the same. They thought my friend and I would make good toys. We obviously didn't have the same beliefs. Lastly about an hour ago a man from this group that was keeping me hostage. My friend gave me a chance to get away by getting one of the thugs to stay out side. He believed I could handle myself if I wasn't teamed up on. He was right. Am I allowed to ask you any questions?" Lacie attempted to hold a poker face as she spoke flatly. The man seemed to have to take a breath before responding to her. To him she didn't seem much of a threat 5"2, pigtails and a fake Japanese dark blue school girl outfit, was definitely not threatening towards him. However something about the way Lacie held herself had him pausing. "Look, little girl," he snarled menacingly, not letting her see his reluctance. "There's reasons we ask ya these questions. We have our own to ya want to be safe and fed, all that good shit, then come with us." The man still alert started heading toward his truck. Turning back towards her, his gaze softened, not wanting to scare her, but frustrating himself. "Ya can ask yer questions once we get to our home. Our main leader is there. I'm second in command." When the stranger stopped talking he walked back to his truck where his friend waited. Lacie decided to follow him, it couldn't be worse then being alone. She was also interested in seeing this prison. _If he was going to kill me he would have done it already right? _She found herself getting lost in her imagination. _A prison is a genius idea! Why didn't I think of that?_ Lacie made her way to the stranger's truck. Speaking at all didn't feel wise. In fact the way she gave up all that information probably wasn't the best either. Glad to be leaving the other group behind though she smiled a bit to herself. _Maybe this means things are going to get better. _This is the first time she was optimistic in a while. When Lacie got separated from Bella, her best friend she had turned cold to the world and her circumstances. Meeting James' group didn't help that opinion either. However there was something about this guy that made that loner aggression lessen. Maybe it's a belief that he will lead her to good people and she won't feel so alone. To the redneck however Lacie made him a bit uneasy and he knew that he would be keeping an eye on her. The redneck seemed to think for a moment before gesturing for Lacie to get into the bed of the truck, with the deer he killed earlier. "Yer gonna have to sit back 'ere." She saw an apologetic look in his eyes. "I'd have ya up there with us, but my crossbow goes in the middle. Ain't wantin' to leave it in the back where I can't reach it." His friend got into the front. "Will ya be alright back 'ere or what?" Lacie nodded and climbed in to the back of the truck. "Thank you for saving my life." She said once the redneck started to drive the truck. After he gave her a silent nodded the rest of the drive was without communication. The drive was about an hour long, Lacie felt the truck stop for a chain link gates to the prison were being opened by a preteen boy. The stranger slowly brought the truck to a stop again. Grabbing his crossbow, he threw it over his shoulder and climbed out, motioning for his friend to follow him. Looking back at Lacie motioned for her to get out. "Follow me, I'm gonna take ya up to the commons and lead the introductions. We'll give ya a couple days to adjust 'fore the council hands ya a job to do." Softening his expression into a timid smile, the stranger started to walk up the hill. "Welcome home."

Inside the gates of the prison there was a field with a hill that lead up to another gate. Lacie followed the stranger until they got to an area with the gazebo. Where a young woman came to greet them. "Who is this Glenn?" The Asian kissed the woman. "This is Lacie. Daryl saved her from walkers when she hid in a trunk. It only took a few minuets before Lacie was surrounded by the residents asking questions, making Lacie very uncomfortable, claustrophobia started to set in. "Is she okay?" A man revealed to her as Rick asked noticing her unsettled expression. A silence came over the group along with a stare aimed at her which made things worse. Even before the apocalypse she wasn't good with crowds that she was trying to impress. "I-I'm sorry." Lacie ran back to the truck and hid in the back. She sat in the truck bed that was still covered in deer blood. Trying to calm herself, she bit her thumb. _I can't believe I lost control up there. I haven't lost control in a long time. They will never take me seriously now_."Hey little girl." Daryl said standing outside the truck. "I am not a little girl!" Lacie snapped back at the redneck, who rolled his eyes at her. "Are ya gunna be okay?" She nodded then pulled her knees to her chest. "I felt surrounded that's all...Now none of you are going to take me seriously." Daryl leaned his back against his truck."If you wanted th'm to take ya seriously then ya shouldn't dress like a stripper." Lacie looked over to him. " I am not dressed as a stripper! This is Japanese cosplay! I packed whatever I could get my hands on!" Daryl shrugged and lit a cigarette. "Looks like a stripper to me." He knew he was pissing her off, but to him aggression was better than fear. "I'm sure you've seen plenty of strippers." By now Lacie had turned around and was leaning on the side of the truck bed, her arms folded near Daryl's head. His response was just to flip her off. Once Lacie finally got out of the truck bed Daryl brought her back to Rick. "I hope your feeling better." The ex-officer was sitting at the metal table inside the prison along with the boy named Carl. "Yes. I didn't mean to be rude earlier." Rick stood up and walked over to the new member of their group. "We shouldn't have swarmed you like that. Let me show you to your cell so you can put your stuff down." Lacie nodded then followed Rick up to a cell on the second floor with a single bed in it. She wished Daryl had come with them, but this Rick guy wasn't half bad. "If you need something just let me or Daryl know. I'll leave you alone now." Lacie sat on the mattress and let out a sigh. _Home_.


	3. Chapter 2: New Home

The cell block was silent when she woke up that morning. Strapping on her gun holster on to her chest, her knife holster to her leg, and putting her sheath on her back Lacie headed down to the first night before Lacie had skipped dinner, she didn't feel right eating something she didn't contribute to. Lacie had just met this group yesterday and already owed the one they call Daryl for saving her life. Not showing up to dinner made quite a conversational topic for those who did show up. "Where's the new girl?" Glenn asked looking at Daryl from across the room, who just shrugged in response. "Maybe she's not hungry" Carl added before taking another bite of the deer Daryl had caught. "Yeah right. Food is hard to come across. Maybe she just doesn't want to be around us. You know get to know the people she plans to screw over." Maggie was very cautious of their new acquired member. "We should have checked her backpack." The group was at war with the Governor, a mentally insane man who controlled Woodbury, trust wasn't something that would come easy. " Now let's give her a chance. That girl looks like she has no problem with us. I will go talk to her after dinner." The old man gave his daughter a small look of disappointment.

After dinner Hershel went to Lacie's cell door with some of the cooked deer meat. "Hello young lady." By this time Lacie was sitting on her bed with her long black hair down dressed in the pajamas she had packed. "Are you hungry?" Although it was clear to Hershel that she was, Lacie shook her head. "Can I come in then?" After she nodded Hershel came into her cell and sat next to her. "My name is Hershel. It is a pleasure to meet you young lady." He smiled at her trying to calm her nerves. His blunt kindness in his eyes and voice surprised Lacie, causing her to look up from her hands. Her face was bruised along with her neck, arms, and legs. Bruises on the arms and legs were normal in this new life they were living in, but the hand print on her neck and the fist print on her cheek worried Hershel. "Do you like your room? I know it's not much but it's better than always runnin." Lacie nodded and looked away from Hershel again. It became obvious to him that she wasn't going to open up to him. "Well try and get some rest. If you need to talk I am 3 cells down."Hershel got up smiled, left Lacie's cell and went to talk to others about what her observed in her behavior and the bruises. Their imaginations went wild trying to figure out if she was in an abusive relationship like Carol or something else. The group left her alone for the rest of that night.

Making sure not to make much noise, Lacie snuck outside. The same light blues and purples that she took advantage of from the sunrise just a month before, where painted across the sky. She made her way across the gravel to the field, Rick was already up and gardening. Taking a moment to decide whether or not to go up to him, another person who was already up came to her side. "What are ya doin?" Lacie jumped a bit not hearing Daryl's footsteps when he walked up to her. "Nothing.""Then why are ya full armed." Frowning she looked down. "I wanted to go hunting. I'm hungry." Daryl adjusted his crossbow then looked at her." Ya can come huntin with me. Just don't slow me down." Lacie actually felt her face smile for the first time since her best friend got taken from her. "I am more worried that you will slow me down." Daryl rolled his eyes then walked away to get Glenn. He didn't mind bringing the new girl along, but they sure as hell were not going alone. Glenn was passed out in Maggie's bed cuddling his wife. Tapping his boot to the metal frame of the bed, he woke up the couple."C'mon we're going back out." Glenn let out a sigh and started to get up. "Why so early?" The Korean man whined a little. "Do ya wanna to eat tonight?" Daryl headed back out to the gazebo. Lacie was no longer standing there, she had gone down the hill to talk to Rick who was still gardening at the time. "Where did you learn to garden?" Rick started to water the crops. "Hershel taught me. He had a farm before the walkers took it over." Glenn had finally made his way out to Daryl who was keeping his eye on Lacie. "Okay I'm ready." The two headed toward Daryl's truck, and he signaled Lacie to come. "Sorry. I have to go now." After giving Rick a light bow of her head she headed to the light blue truck.

This was the second time Lacie was in the bed of this truck. She liked it though the wind in her hair, and time to just close her eyes without worry. Daryl was a very good driver, according to Lacie anyway. /I wonder what we will catch today. Hopefully another deer. I want to show my worth to this group./ Daryl made sure they were a good ways from the prison, parked the truck on the side of the road. The road was empty, which was lucky for a lot of roads were car grave yards by now. Glenn and Daryl got out of the front seats of the truck with their weapons almost in sync. Lacie waited a moment before hopping out of the truck bed, then heading to the forest behind the men. A light breeze passed through the branches of the trees. The group stood still trying to hear any animals that may be sneaking around. Within minuets Daryl had shot a squirrel with his crossbow. The likelihood of them finding anything else was slim. "We're gonna have to get a shit load of these to feed everyone." Daryl shot another squirrel. Glenn seemed to be there more for moral support and as a carrier. Lacie and Daryl seemed to be the only ones hunting squirrels. Then again throwing knives and shooting a crossbow were much quieter then shooting off a gun. The hunt lasted a couple hours before they decided to head back with their twelve squirrels, four rabbits, and two snakes. Glenn thought Lacie and Daryl were a good team, for every time one killed something the other matched it only a few moments later. "She's pretty good at hunting with you." Glen said sitting next to Daryl's crossbow in the passenger seat. "Ya, so?" This is why Daryl never judged books by their covers, Lacie didn't look like a hunter, but she clearly was. She had rode the whole way back with the kills in the bed of the truck. Pulling back in to the prison she felt excited to share her game with the group.

Three weeks later Lacie had become accustom to her new sitting with the council she was even given the job of hunting and gathering supplies, with the redneck and on some occasions the Korean. Lacie had spent time with everyone at least once with in the three weeks. The group aside from Daryl were pretty open with their experiences even if she didn't return with any information about herself. Hershel even taught her something everyday about tending to wounds. Rick helped her improve her shooting and Carol taught her cooking tips. These people who were once strangers, were her new family. Except Daryl she couldn't think of him as a brother, she didn't know why, she just couldn't. You would find her looking for Daryl whenever she had down time, for sometimes she was called upon to help take care of Rick's daughter Judith. However even though neither Daryl or Lacie gave way on their life before the apocalypse, the two hunters gained a rather strong respect for each other and a friendship.

On the current day it was one of those different days where Lacie didn't go with Daryl hunting because Beth needed a break from babysitting Judith. The only other baby she had held was her cousin, she was four then. Looking at Judith she was reminded of all the plans she had for her life prior to the apocalypse. Lacie wanted to be a psychologist and have a family, she had been closer to the degree though. The heat in the prison was almost suffocating, therefore she brought Judith outside and found shade. A little bit before sunset Beth came to take back her job taking care of Judith. "Thanks Lacie I just needed to rest." Bath loved taking care of Judith ,but just like any job she had need a couple hours to recuperate. "No problem. Do you need anything else?"Lacie said handing Judith to Beth ever so carefully. "Not at all. You've done enough." With that Lacie ran off to see if Daryl had returned from the hunt. Lucky for her Carol informed her that he had. Tightening up her pigtails she went to go see him.

Daryl had gone hunting by himself today. Lacie had to take care of Judith and Glenn had been too busy up in the guard tower with his wife to go. Daryl didn't mind going alone he just found himself enjoying it more when Lacie had come with him. She made him feel comfortable in the way that she didn't ask him a hundred questions about the past or any for that matter. The two instead would create a competition of hunting to see who could get the most kills or the biggest kill. Daryl felt pretty comfortable that he would have won today for he caught a large deer. The group will be eating well tonight. Wiping sweat off his brow he drove back to camp with the windows down. After he parked his truck in the usual spot then headed to the place where he skinned the animals, stopping just long enough to say "hey" to Carol. Part of Daryl made him hope that Lacie would show up and make this tedious process a bit shorter with good conversation. Admittedly he kind of enjoyed this apocalyptic world where people actually gave a shit about him "Hey Daryl." Lacie came around the corner. He looked up smiled returned her friendly smile and put his knife down. "Great kill. I would have got a bigger one." Daryl wiped the blood from the deer on his jeans. "Ya right Lace when fuckin pigs fly." The two shared a small laugh. "If your so sure then why don't ya come back out huntin with me." Before Lacie could answer a commotion was heard from the front of the prison. Daryl grabbed his crossbow and headed to the front.

Lacie trailed after Daryl, seeing him stop in his tracks looking at the strangers who had made their way into the prison. One of the strangers was a male who was standing over Rick with a gun to his head the other was a long blonde haired girl aiming her gun at Carl. Lacie let her emotions come over her. / Who the fuck are these people? If they think they are going to hurt my family they have another thing coming!/ However when she tried to run to Rick and Carl's aid, her arm was grabbed by Daryl. "What are you doing? They need us." She scowled at him and tried to get her arm free. "Stay here." Daryl let go of her arm and headed down to the scene. Normally Lacie wouldn't listen to people who didn't give her reason but she trusted Daryl and decided to stay put.


	4. Chapter 3: Intruders

Daryl couldn't believe his eyes, the man standing above Rick was his brother Merle who he thought was dead. "Merle ya asshole!" He called out to his brother who was also surprised to see him. "Well, that ain't anyway to treat your brother." Merle shifted his gaze to a very pissed off Daryl. "What the fuck are you doin?" Daryl aimed his crossbow at his brother as a warning to back off of Rick. Merle put his make shift hand and other hand up and backed off, confusing the long haired blonde he had come with. "I was just tryin to repay officer friendly for leavin me on the roof." Rick stood up and brushed himself off. "We went back for you." Rick tried to defuse the situation. "He could have fuckin died by the time you came back!" The girl yelled in Merle's defense. "Ellie is right! You handcuffed me and left me to die!"

Lacie heard the blonde yell, she sounded familiar like a ghost from her past. This prompted her to run to Daryl's side in attempt to get a good look at the female intruder. /Bella!/ The others continued to bicker until they noticed the short black haired girl make her way toward the blonde. In an attempt to stop her Daryl attempted to grab Lacie's arm, he wasn't fast enough. "Who's this bitch?" Merle didn't bother trying to protect Bella for he knew she could protect herself. "Lacie?" The blonde met her half way and the two girls hugged tightly, confusing everyone around them. "You're still alive! I was so sure you were dead!" Bella said while letting go to get a good look at her long lost friend. "I thought the same about you! You look great though!" Lacie felt more excited then when Daryl started teaching her how to use his crossbow. "So who's this guy you're with?" She teased. "Just some idiot. Tell me about you how did you get with this back stabbing crowd?" Lacie was taken back by Bella's statement, she looked around at all the on lookers. "What are you talking about? These are good people." Taking Merle's left arm in to her hand Bella raised it to show her friend what these "good" people had done. "This doesn't look very fuckin nice to me. They left him to die without a care!" Merle's make shift hand had confused Lacie, these people who had taken her in couldn't have done that. This started a bickering amongst the two intruders and the camp. Instead of turning on her new group though Lacie walked over to Rick. "Why does she say you guys took this mans arm?" Rick tried to speak to her but the bickering was too loud, prompting Lacie to take her gun out and shoot it once in the air. A quiet lull came over the group and Rick began to tell the story of how Merle was being a dictator on the roof in Atlanta, hurting anyone who opposed his rule. After she allowed Merle to tell his side of the story about the roof top. Not that she felt it was her place, but Lacie passed the judgment that both sides were at fault. "You're a big boy aren't you? Get over it. If you can't take your chances with the walkers. They sound hungry." Merle was pissed on how this little girl spoke to him. "You little!" He was cut off by Daryl getting in between the two crossbow still raised. "She's right. You can't stay 'ere if yer gonna get after everyone." Merle was smart and knew he had lost this battle for now. Daryl didn't like treating his brother that way, however it was the only way to protect his brother and family at the prison. Reading Merle's body language Bella understood it was over, then lowered her gun.

The night sky was lit up by the rays of the moon which fell through the windows of the prison. Rick had told Daryl and Lacie that Merle and Bella were their responsibility. Rick also thought it was best if the two intruders were to stay in a locked cell, when the two weren't watching them. The agreement was made, and the two headed to see their "company". Daryl couldn't help but notice the smile on Lacie's face even after all the drama. He also felt a twinge of happiness that his brother was here and okay. The cell Bella and Merle were in was a bunk bed cell, Bella got top. "Hi guys" Lacie said as Daryl unlocked the door to the cell. "Lacie! I can't believe you guys didn't put us in different cells this bastard is going to drive me crazy all night!" Lacie pulled a chair into the room and sat in the corner. "At least it's one of the bigger cells." Daryl stood in the corner closest to the door after shutting it. "So what have you been up to this last 9 months?" Bella laid down on her bunk as if the question she asked Lacie would result in a bed time story. The men started their own conversation about the same topic, basically what's happened since the last time I saw you. However unlike the ladies the men were half listening to the ladies conversation, trying to figure out more about the girls that they had been traveling with. "Well after we got separated at the asylum Max and I tried to move forward. Actually he tried to move forward, I was at a stand still. By then as you know I had to off my dad as a walker and saw so many people get mauled I started to wonder what the point was? If you weren't strong enough in this new world, I knew I wasn't." Lacie turned to the bars of the window and looked toward the stars. "Max was basically dragging me around like a corpse. It took a whole month before I figured out I was being an idiot. I mean I never gave up before, so why start now? I decided to live for the both of us. So things got better for a little while. Max and I were sleeping in my Jeep and making our way around Georgia." She looked back to Bella who was on her side now staring at her friend. "However one night I woke up and the Jeep was surrounded by walkers. I woke him up lightly but he freaked out anyway and yelled at me to start the Jeep. I did and we sped off through the woods. Apparently he thought it was a good idea to grab the wheel and we ended up ramming right into a tree. I had enough mind to grab all my stuff from the Jeep. Max just got out and ran. I didn't see him after that." Lacie smiled at her friend to reassure her that she was going to be okay. "I spent 6 months by myself. Sleeping in trees and hunting animals. When I was bored I went around stabbing walkers. it also got some aggression out. In a way I realize I was looking for trouble. It was when I wasn't looking for trouble it found me. I helped a guy get away from walkers after he made me miss my kill. I thought he should replace that deer I almost got. His camp got wind of my skills and thought it to be wise to capture me and use me as a hunter. I tried to escape quite a few times but they all resulted in my ass getting kicked. Then one day that guy who got me into the mess decided to get me out of it. This resulted in his death and me meeting Daryl." Daryl had never heard any of this before, it had answered a lot of the groups questions about the bruises Lacie had when she first got there, and why he and Glenn had found her alone. "What about you?" Bella rolled on to her back to look at the ceiling. "My time wasn't as eventful as yours. After the asylum I spent my time room hopping and using walker blood on doors to deter them. I picked up what little food I could find on the way and eventually I met that jackass on a roof. We drank and smoked until the walkers over ran the damn place. We took the fire escape, the asshole saved me and we took a truck back to Woodbury." Bella folded both of her arms behind her head.

The room was silent for a few moments before Bella spoke again. "Lacie you always have vodka on you. Can we have some?" Daryl looked at Lacie not knowing when Bella was talking about. He had never seen Lacie drink, nor had he ever smelt alcohol on her breath. "Yes if it will help you sleep." Lacie got up and left the cell to go get her bottle. "Yer friend has booze? Aren't we lucky?" Bella sat up and looked at Daryl's confused expression for a moment then answered Merle's question, as if it was rhetorical. "Yes even before the apocalypse it was the only way to get her to sleep." Her eyes went nonchalantly back to Daryl and saw that he seemed satisfied with her answer. When Lacie returned she had her whole backpack and sat back in her chair before taking a large bottle of Grey Goose Vodka. "Why don't we all drink tonight?" Bella laughed looking at the size of Lacie's vodka bottle. "Hell yeah Ellie!" Lacie looked at Daryl then sheepishly handed the bottle to Merle. She felt like she had betrayed Daryl by not telling him that she had the bottle, or that at times when she ran out, she would sneak away to the liquor store when they were getting supplies. Merle took a large gulp of the stuff then handed it to Bella who did the same. When Bella finally handed the bottle back to Lacie, she looked for disapproval or anger in Daryl's face but found none. "Ya didn't kill us over it." He said noticing his friend's discomfort. Wrapping her fingers tighter around the bottle, she tilted it upwards against her lips and took a sip. Daryl contemplated the repercussions of having a drink but in the ended decided a little won't hurt, he hadn't drank with Merle in a while. Before they all knew it the bottle was empty. The four of them were drunk off their asses. Bella even fell out of the top bunk twice onto Merle, who just laughed it off and put her back in to her bunk. Lacie and Daryl knew it was time to lock up and go back to their cells, so they stood up a bit wobbly, said their "Go the fuck to sleep's, then locked Merle and Bella in. The room was spinning and Lacie wasn't walking straight, she even fell in to Daryl with a nervous laugh twice. The two wondered how the hell Lacie was going to get up the stairs to her cell, if she couldn't handle flat ground. "Hey!" She yelped when Daryl picked her up bridal style. "Shhh. Yer gonna wake 'em up." He decided it would be best just to carry her. Arguing at this point was useless not that she had a real argument to begin with. The redneck placed her lightly in her bed. "Night Lace." Before her drunkin mind could gather that he was leaving he was already gone. "Night Daryl."

Lacie was woken up by Hershel the next day in the afternoon with some lunch. "Morning Lacie. Were you up late last night?" The old man's smile was always comforting, he always seemed to know everything she did, but never judged it. "Kind of." She ran her black hair through her hands then jumped up after remembering that Bella was her responsibility, and she had been sleeping all morning. "Don't worry your two friends are still fast asleep." He handed her the tray with cooked squirrel and a cup of water. "Did Daryl go out already?" Holding the tray she sat back down on her bed. "No, he's waiting for some company. So eat up and go find him." He tapped her knee and left the cell. There wasn't much so it was easy to stuff her face as quickly as possible. After doing her hair, changing her cloths, and getting her gear on Lacie went out to find Daryl.

Carol and Daryl were sitting at the picnic table in the gazebo. Lacie could tell they had chemistry, however she decided not to ask about it. Daryl didn't speak much about what was going on with him emotionally or anything serious for that matter. "Hey!" Lacie smiled and walked up to the two. "Hey Lace. Ready to go?" Daryl stood up then put his crossbow on his back. "Hell yeah. That way I can get a deer bigger than the one you caught yesterday!" Scoffing Daryl put his arm around his friend and they headed to his truck. "Ya know ya ain't gettin anythin bigger than that buck." Before they could get into the truck Rick walked over. "Did you two forget about Merle and Bella?" Honestly they did for a moment, not that they didn't care about the two they were just excited to hunt. "I'll go get'em" Rick gave Daryl back the key to open the locked cell. "Lace get in the front." With that he headed up to the prison. Lacie hopped in to the light blue pick up, and Rick walked up to the window. "I hate to ask you this...But do you think we can trust your friend and Merle? We have lost enough people." She nodded at Rick confidently, she had a lot of respect for Rick. He had the fate of the whole group on his shoulders even when he tried to split the responsibility, they all ended up looking to him. "Alright. I trust you. Have a good hunt." Tapping the door he went off to continue taking care of the and Bella jumped into the Truck bed looking exhausted from last nights drinking event. Crossbow first Daryl got into the driver seat and the four of them headed out.

Normally where they would take a left to the forest Daryl took a right toward the town."Are we doing a supply run today too?" Lacie questioned leaning on the metal part of the open window. "Ya could say that. We drank all y'ere booze fer sleepin. I figured we could get some." The town was a half an hour away, they should siphon some gas while they were their she thought. Merle and Bella started arguing in the back about who could handle their alcohol better. "Maybe we should make them walk back." Lacie joked. "Nah they would trail the walkers behind'em." The two finally quieted down when Daryl parked the truck in front of the liquor store. "Now this is what I'm talkin 'bout little brother." It turned out that prior to intruding on the prison Merle and Bella were on an alcohol run of their own. Inside the liquor store the shelves were well stocked only missing a few bottles here and there. Lacie grabbed a bottle of Grey Goose then dropped it off in the truck before going to the market two doors down with Daryl to get some odds and ends. She wouldn't had felt right if they had came all this way just for her, she was apart of a family now. Merle and Bella decided to hang back at the liquor store, they wanted to stock up. Inside the market Lacie flipped on a flashlight and the two headed to the baby isle, Judith needed more formula and Lacie wanted to get her a few toys. Only if there were any without blood on it. Four containers and two toys later Daryl and Lacie decided to split up but not to go more than two isles away from each other. She ended up in the first aid isle, there was a lot gone but Lacie grabbed what ever she deemed necessary. At the end of her isle there was a display with condoms on it, she decided to grab some for Glenn and Maggie. After stuffing their bags with canned goods and Tylenol they went back to the truck. Merle and Bella were already in the back of the truck drinking. "Hey look their alive! We don't need to steal meh little brother's truck!" Lacie found herself rolling her eyes at the older Dixon before grabbing the gas can and a tube. "Hey Lacie! Can you talk officer friendly in to letting us stay another fuckin night? I missed." She nodded and went to the closest car. "Are you sure ya don't want me to do it?" Lacie knelt down and stuck the tube into the gas tank. "Yeah, you drove out here for me. I know we ended up getting stuff for the camp but that was a side idea." The first two cars were empty but thirds the charm, Lacie kept at it until she filled up the 5 gallon gas can, which took four cars. They left the town without an incident and headed towards the hunting grounds.

The wind was just hard enough to ease the heat but just weak enough not to smack you in the face with your own hair. Merle thought it would be a good "peace offering" if he and Bella helped. The group decided to split in to two groups, Merle and Daryl then Bella and Lacie. In a way this was also a way to spend some long waited time. Bella was not a trained hunter and Lacie knew that, so she planned to catch something and have Bella lie about it. Daryl and Merle both knew what they were doing and caught six different forest animals. Lacie tracked two foxes and a rabbit before she saw three walkers wondering through the trees. Killing walkers was something Bella was very good at with that bat of hers. She also had to get some aggression out for not being able to hurt that damn officer friendly. Bella went in swinging after attaching the rabbit to her kill belt Lacie took out her Katana and stabbed the one in the head that Bella had yet to get to."Let's go!" Lacie grabbed Bella's arm when she saw another eight come into view. "I have to find Daryl." Having kill on you makes you a bigger target for walkers, for they smell the fresh blood. The once quiet forest was in an up roar of growling. /Daryl! Where the fuck are you?!/


	5. Chapter 4:Drink up

Distance always seems long when you're going somewhere, looking for something or someone. Tracking using the arrow marks on the trees Lacie and Bella searched for Daryl and Merle. Panic surged through Lacie's system, Daryl was her light in this new dark apocalyptic world. She found herself in tears for the first time in 9 months. Bella didn't fight Lacie's grip even though it was starting to hurt her arm. Above all people Bella knew how Lacie was feeling, she also cared about the Dixon she was traveling with. Relief set in when they finally saw the men crouching behind a bush looking at a deer. Lacie let go of Bella's arm and tackled Daryl making him miss the deer. "What the fuck woman?!" He yelled. "They're coming I've seen them in spurts all around the forest. I was worried that one of them could have got you." Noticing his friend in tears he put his arm around her. "Well we better hide then." Bella grabbed on to Merle's arm as to not show the real fear she was feeling at the thought of losing him, the only man who could quite understand her fucked up ideas.

They decided the best idea was to get to the truck and drive back to safety, however once they got to the car a wall of walkers were off in the distance in the direction they need to go. "We have to just go the other way." Merle pointed out not wanting to waste anymore time. He already had to cut off his hand to survive, he refused to die now. The four of them got in to their respective places and Daryl drove off. "Hey asshole... I'm glad you're okay." Bella looked across the truck bed at Merle with a half smile. "YA well, me too." Merle was never good at conveying his feelings, maybe it was a man thing, or just a Dixon one. "Should we suggest going home to Woodbury?" Bella picked up one of the booze bottles off the floor and popped it open as she stared at the walkers attempting to catch up. "Nah the prison is at war with us." Merle looked a head at the driver's seat. "Do you want some?" Bella took the bottle from her lips, then held it forward. "Does a pig shit? Hand it over woman." By the time the four of them lost the group of walkers it was nightfall, and they were 10 miles out. "If we were to head back now they could still be there, or we could lead them straight to the prison." Lacie frowned looking at the illuminated road. "Ya we'll camp here tonight. Hunt then go back tomorrow." Taking a wire and a few empty cans they headed into the woods.

Setting up camp was easy with the flashlight, they even ended up making a fire. Fires might be dangerous and normally they wouldn't do it but, they decided to try it, if this was their last night they were going to enjoy it. Merle and Daryl even pulled logs to sit on, it felt like a normal camping trip. Bella handed everyone their own bottle of booze. "Won't this screw our way of thinking if a hoard comes?" Merle laughed a bit at Lacie's statement before taking a giant gulp of his whiskey. "Girl if a hoard comes we're dead anyway." She frowned and took a sip of her vodka, Lacie didn't want to give up no matter the circumstance. "Don't freak her out ya bastard." Bella shot Merle a glare before defeating half her vodka bottle. Bella knew how to handle her vodka, her body was just used to it after years without a days break. "I was jus' bein truthful City." The older Dixon shrugged his traveling partner's comment off. Bella hated Merle's nicknames for her but, she was used to them by now. "Whatever." She also knew how to shrug him off as well. An hour or so went by and the four survivors were drunk. "W-why do you face?" Bella placed her hand on Merle's face before sliding it off like she was wiping it with a napkin. "You are drunk woman." He responded then gave her a light tap which made her fall off the log. "Fuck y-you no I'm not. You're fuckin drunk." Bella never knew when she was drunk, or if she did she never admitted it. She was honest about other things though. "Would you miss me if I left." Bella picked herself up and sat up right on the long next to Merle. "What are ya talk'in about woman?!" The question she asked put Merle into a dark place. "Ya know would ya think about me?" Bella had never talked to him this way, she had been full of insults and humor but not emotion. Merle in his head and heart didn't know how to respond. In all honesty he would miss the feisty blonde, and he didn't understand how he felt about her. When he was with her he hated himself less and laughed more. No person had ever made himself hate him less except for sometimes his brother but, he didn't look at her as family, it was something different. "No one is hold'in ya 'ere" The aggression in him reached the surface, it was better than feeling anything that could let him down later. "Y-you are an asshole you know that." Bella's tears only made him angrier, in truth it was more at himself for doing that to her. Merle stood up as the rain started, and walked away into the dark woods.

Meanwhile Lacie had stood up halfway through the conversation between Bella and Merle then left to find something to eat. Bella letting out her inner feelings made Lacie think of hers. Would Daryl miss her if she were to leave? Would he think about her? The more she talked to herself, the more she realized she was in love with the redneck. Her face heated up while she searched for a kill. /I should tell him. Even if he doesn't reciprocate at least I won't die with any regret./ Lacie threw her knife into an unexpecting owl. When it fell she grabbed it and started to run back to camp. The rain was falling harder on her way back, enough to lower visibility quite a bit. The closer she got the worse the idea of telling him got. / What if it makes things awkward? What if it hurts?/ Just like that her happiness turned into depression, which left her distracted long enough to slip and fall down a muddy cliff. "Ow!" The mud softened most of the ground that wasn't rocks. Maybe it was a sign, don't tell him it will hurt like a bitch. Lacie pulled herself up to a sitting position then leaned against the cliff letting the rain hit her the top of her head as she hugged her knees.

Daryl felt weird watching this girl try to pry feelings from his brother. Lacie had been gone for a while, with the rain as hard as it was he thought it would be wise to look for her. The more he thought about it the more he realized that she shouldn't have gone off on her own while they were all drunk. Tracking in the rain was like trying to find a needle in a hay stack, almost impossible. A few moments when the rain let up a little he saw footprints in the mud which ended at a cliff. Daryl felt something uneasy in his stomach, was she okay? He looked and found an easy way down the cliff using trees as leverage. When he got to the bottom he saw her against the cliff."Lace what are you doing?! Are you okay?!" Lacie looked up at him."I'm fine." Daryl sat next to her knowing she wasn't."Come on Lace tell me." She decided it was now or never. "Daryl.." She tackled her friend over then kissed him. " I love you." Daryl was beside himself. " I don't want to hurt you." As he as that she understood, he didn't feel the same. The pain went through her chest as if he shot her with that crossbow. Lacie got off him and picked up the owl she had killed. "I got this for dinner." She wouldn't look at him. "Lace?" Her heart was telling her that she wasn't good enough for him. His heart and head was calling himself an asshole. They headed back to camp, where they saw neither Bella nor Merle. "I'll go look for Bella." She still wouldn't look at him. "Wait? C'mon Lace don't do this." He grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away. "I am not doing anything Daryl. We need to find them." Lacie ripped her arm from him then followed Bella's heel prints in the mud. Pissed off, Daryl followed Merle's.

When Lacie found Bella she was beating walkers with her bat. Bella used it as an aggression exercise. "He told me he didn't care about me!" Lacie just stared coldly through the rain. "It's whatever. Don't let it kill you. There are worse things at play here. We are in the middle of an apocalypse." The last time she had talked to her this way Lacie had just killed her own father, something was up. "Did you tell Daryl you liked him too?" Bella slammed her bat into a walkers head immediately crushing its skull into it's brain. "Yeah but it doesn't matter let's get back." The rain calmed down and she ran out of walkers to beat down so Bella agreed to head back. The walk felt longer because no matter how much Bella spoke Lacie would only give one word answers. Merle and Daryl hadn't got back yet. Plucking the owl was the best thing Lacie could think of to do now. "Do you think they are okay?" Bella sat back down on the log opposite of her. "They're big boys they don't need us to wipe their asses for them."

Merle was kicking himself for not knowing the right things to say to Bella when she was asking him all those questions. He would miss her if she was gone, he didn't want her to leave. "Merle!" Daryl called from behind him. "What?" He growled at his brother intruding on his thoughts. "C'mon back to the camp." Merle couldn't let his little brother know that he had a soft spot for the city girl. "No those bitches can handle themselves." Daryl just wanted this night to end by now, everyone was just pissing him off. "Don't be an asshole. Let's go." Merle turned his back to his brother. "I am going with or without you." He had a track record of leaving Daryl it only just started to have less of a sting. "They need us. You can leave but I am going back!" Just then a gun shot, the Dixon boys could tell it was coming from their camp. The argument ceased, they ran back to camp. There were 3 people, 2 males and one female. Lacie was on the ground near the owl she had been plucking, one of the males had her in his lap. The other male had Bella by the hair and the unknown female was on the ground beaten up. The brothers regretted leaving the camp even more now. Even though the male holding Bella's hair was pointing a gun at him Merle lunged after him and punched him in the face, nobody hurts Bella. The unknown man tried to shoot Merle but, Merle's punches knocked him out of focus, bullets were just flying. Daryl ran to Lacie then pushed the other man out of the way."Lace stay with me." He applied pressure to her gun shot wound. "N-no I don't want your help." Her words stung, however he wasn't going to listen. Merle ended up killing the unknown man, he couldn't stop himself, not that he wanted to. Once he got over to Bella he noticed her bruised face and bleeding chest, this was the first time he looked at her chest for non-perverted reasons, not that she had much going on there in the first place. "We have to get back to the prison!" Both brothers picked up the girls and brought them back to the truck. Daryl strapped Lacie into the front, Merle kept Bella in his lap on the truck bed. "Bella you're gettin cold." He was actually showing his worry for her. "It's just because I'm a cold hearted bitch." She joked after choking up some blood. The whole drive felt so slow even if he was hitting the gas as hard as he could. Daryl wasn't going to let his friend die like this. Rick was at the gate when he got there. "Open it!" He didn't ask any questions and just opened the gate. Parking as quickly as possible Daryl and Merle jumped out, grabbed the girls, then ran in to meet Hershal. "What happened? Were they bit?" Hershal showed them where to put the girls down. "No just shot." Daryl grabbed his crossbow, he was more pissed off at himself for leaving them than anything. He had to go shoot something. Merle went to the truck to grab another bottle, this wait was making him nauseous.

Lacie had passed out on the truck ride and didn't wake up until morning. Feeling the bed beneath her she sat up quickly, causing pain to shoot through her system. "You're awake." Beth was sitting by her bed holding Judith. "Where's Daryl?" Shot out of her mouth like a bullet from a gun. "He's in his cell." Lacie realized how much of a bitch she was last night. If Daryl didn't like her, that was fine, it's good he didn't lie to her. She pulled herself out of bed, then fell to the ground. "Don't get up!" Beth said scared that Lacie would hurt herself further. "No Beth I have to do this." Using the walls she made it to Daryl's cell. He was dirtier than usual, the noise wasn't waking him either. He must have gotten back recently. Lacie pulled herself into his cell and fell on to his stomach waking him up. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She began to repeat over and over again. His only response was to put his arm over her. Anything he could say would only make her feel worse.

Bella had a different experience when she woke up. Merle had slept at the end of her bed on his knees. Sitting up, she decided not to wake the older Dixon. Without words it became clear how he felt. He might have been to proud to say it but, he wanted her to stay with him just as much as she wanted to stay. The alcohol had worn off, her mentality was stronger. "I see you're feeling a bit better." Hershal walked into the cell with some food on a tray. "Are you hungry by any chance?" Bella nodded then attempted to take the tray, her arms shaky as they were caused her to drop it on Merle's head. This woke the sleeping man instantly. "Fuck!" He wave his arms around like he was going to attack someone until he realized where he was. "What the fuck was that for woman?" Bella and Hershal laughed for a moment. "It was an accident but you're an asshole so you deserved it."


	6. Chapter 5: Good-bye

A week had passed since Lacie and Bella got wounded by gun shots. Merle had brought Bella back to Woodbury, so the Governor didn't come looking or replace them. Lacie has since decided to try distance herself from Daryl, to keep herself from saying anything else "stupid." Her black hair was down laying itself gently on her shoulders. Taking her brush from the light blue blanket she ran it through her hair, putting it up into a pony tail. Today would be the first time she had hunted with him in a while. Rick had requested her to hunt personally, more game was brought to the prison that way, at least that's the reason he gave her. Lacie changed from the giant t-shirt she wore to bed to a white shirt and jean shorts. Her hands seemed to have missed her katana in a way, they didn't want to let go of it the moment she picked it up. The shine of the blade, the weight, everything about it felt right. The life she lived before the apocalypse was always missing something. Whatever it was she had found it in that blade more than ever before. Lacie strapped on her hunting and walker killing equipment then headed down to Daryl's truck.

Daryl had been at the truck already when she got there. They had spoken a few times since she had apologized but nothing like they use to. Just that common fake polite stuff you were taught as a child and now do as a reflex. Lacie pulled herself into the passenger seat after shutting the door she shot him a polite fake smile. "Don't do that." Daryl hated when people were fake nice to him. In more ways than one it was worse than if she had spit right in his face. In his heart he missed the way things were the competition hunting, friendly conversation, and being a power team. "I'm sorry." Lacie knew he didn't deserve that, a lie was a lie even if there are no words. "Whatever." The drive was silent for 20 minutes or so. "Do ya hate me Lace?" The statement sounded pathetic when he heard it slip out. To him he sounded like a child asking for its parent's approval. "No Daryl. I hate me. I have this thing where I ruin everything good I come in contact with." Her words sounded like they came from his own head. Daryl always felt that he fucked everything good up. The rest of the ride was silent, neither of them knew what to say to the other. The truck came to a halt, they were at the hunting grounds once again. The two hunted separately as always but this time there was no count of who had done better. The Georgia heat was forgiving as it couldn't had been more than 75 degrees during the day and at night it must have been about 60.

Even though the two hadn't been in good space it didn't affect the amount of game they had killed. Daryl had caught 3 rabbits, 7 squirrels, and 2 snakes. Lacie on the other hand caught 1 rabbit, 2 foxes and 10 squirrels. Rick's hopes of the return of normalcy were quickly dashed when the two didn't even skin the animals in the same area. "Hey Lacie." Rick walked up to her with a small smile. By now Lacie's once white shirt was covered in dirt and a lot of blood. Her face had dirt on it, and her ponytail was loose. "Hey Rick. Did you need something?" She wiped her hands on her shirt to dry them a little then continued skinning the fox. "Can I ask you a question?" He sat down on a metal chair beside her. "You know my policy Rick. You can ask but you only have a 50% chance of me answering it." When it came to any personal matters the group did allow her to have that policy. Not everyone wanted to talk about their past or how they were feeling. Though the only people that seemed to fit in that category in the prison were Daryl and Lacie. "What happened between you and Daryl? You two used to go everywhere together and you both seemed happier before." Her response was silence, which was her polite way of not answering a question. "I just want to resolve the issue." Lacie had finished skinning the fox and started the second one. "After I cook these I am heading off to bed. I'm not hungry." Rick knew he was defeated, gave her a side hug and left.

Lacie was sick of hurting Daryl, being a constant reminder of the friendship that she had messed up. Her finally decision was to leave the camp, she had survived once on her own she could do it again. After packing her bag she left with only one stop which was at Daryl's cell, she left a flower in the door way as one last sorry. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the forest in such a way that Lacie didn't even need her flashlight. In her mind she wasn't doing anything wrong, no one would miss her or even know she was gone, and if they did it would only be for her hunting skill that helped Daryl bring back more than usual. Her left hand was clutching a knife that after a few straggling walkers was covered in blood. The more she thought about leaving Daryl the more her heart hurt and the faster she ran. Lacie didn't want to give herself the option to go back, but where was she running to? When she ran out of breath and started gasping she fell to the ground. The knife still in her grip was lodged into the tree in front of her. The only sound she could hear was her own heavy breathing. This would be far enough for the night. Lacie pulled a second knife out of her backpack and climbed a tree. Crying and vodka helped her find sleep, she hoped to find her numbness that she lost in the morning.

In the morning Daryl woke up thinking about the day prior. How let his friend feel like shit. How he just couldn't find the words to fix it. How she didn't even show up to dinner though he knew she hadn't eaten that day. Rolling on to his side to stare at the concrete wall he let out a sigh. There had to be something that could fix this problem. The more he thought about it the angrier he got. Grinding his teeth Daryl grabbed his crossbow and headed out of his cell. Hunting was the only way he knew how to handle his aggression when he couldn't or didn't want to hit the person. Slamming the door to his truck he went out the gate that Carl had opened. The drive felt longer than usual, maybe because the whole time he was verbally abusing himself. "Ya fucking idiot!" Daryl hit the brakes and punched the sides of the steering wheel. "Ya coulda said anything! Ya coulda told her she didn't ruin everything! Y'ere dumbass just sat there! That's just as bad as if you agreed with her!" He had yelled for a good hour before even getting out of the truck. "You're the fuck up not her." This time his voice was just a tired whisper as he grabbed his crossbow to finally hunt some new game.

Bella had finally healed enough to get out of bed. She couldn't help but think the health care here in Woodbury was better than what Lacie was getting at the prison. The beds here were also way more comfortable. Sitting up and putting her feet over the edge she found herself thinking about how Merle stayed by her side all that he could while she recovered. Bella didn't know what they were but they were something and that's enough for her. "Ellie move yer ass we don't have all day!" The voice on the other side of her bedroom door was nothing less than impatient. "Shut up asshole! I'm moving!" The cold wooden floor seemed to regain heat the more she walked on it to get ready for her first day back on the wall. "Time is moves faster than you when I'm high woman!" When she had finished and grabbed her gun she opened the door to see Merle leaning on the door frame. "Finally! Let's go woman!" The wall was a short distance from Bella's apartment. Then again it was basically a few closed off streets so everyone was close to the wall.

Life on the wall seemed unchanged filled with jokes and cigarettes. After their shift had finally ended the two went back to Merle's apartment for a drink. Lucky for them they got to keep everything they didn't drink from that run they made with Daryl and Lacie. Merle handed Bella a bottle of vodka while he took a bottle of whiskey for himself. They had seen no reason to use cups, they weren't going to share their bottle anyway. Bella flopped herself on to his couch before taking her first sip. "I want to go back to the prison." She said staring at the flame from the candle dancing through the clear liquid in her bottle. Bella had missed her friend and wanted to see how she was doing. Lacie and Bella had an understanding that they wanted to stay with their separate Dixons in their separate homes. "Ya we'll go tomorrow." Merle wouldn't admit it but he also missed someone, his little brother. He also had a lot of fun the time they were at the prison, aside from the giant fight anyway. A few drinks later the seriousness had melted away from them. "Why are walkers? Always with the stupid face?" Bella asked then laughed and took another shot from her bottle. "Cause thur not Miltie." Bella fell off the couch laughing. The jokes went on until they both passed out in Merle's living room.

Bella never had hangovers, at least that is what she told herself. That was one of the many things her and Merle had in common. Bella and Merle were woken up by Milton the next morning, who was sent by the Governor. The Governor was summoning him. Bella was used to being left out of the inner circle of Woodbury. There weren't many people in it so it didn't bother her. After he left Bella let herself out and went back to her place to change. She hated wearing the same cloths more than once in a row so when she didn't have to she simply didn't. The only thing she had to wear that was clean was a small black dress. Most of her cloths were rather unethical for an apocalypse. Before this she was a model therefore got to see much of the world. It was only by chance that she was in Georgia when this all went down. Her actual home was in New York, so she only had what she had packed for the Georgia trip. "This will have to do." She spoke to herself as she got ready for her trip to the prison. When Merle got there and saw her in her shiny black dress all he did was laugh. "Really City? We're 'bout to trek through woods and walkers. That's what yer gonna wear?" His words infuriated her, it's not like she picked it out when her other cloths were clean. "Shut it Dixon!" Once they were far enough from Woodbury Merle felt like he could talk to Bella about the meeting he just had. "The Governor is planning to attack the prison." His words were flat and lifeless, Merle just didn't know how to feel about it. "He has given us 3 days to tell them to evacuate the prison or face the consequences." Bella gripped her baseball bat full force. /Why does he need to attack the prison of all places./ "This isn't the first time we have attacked'em. Woodbury used to have more people. The Governor killed quite a bit and the rest were taken to the prison to live. It wasn't hard for him to convince more survivors to shack up there and rebuild." Merle had never been this open to her about the place they lived. Bella had mixed feelings about it, but one thing she knew for sure and that was she didn't want that crazy asshole to kill Merle. "How did he find 35 more survivors?" Bella kept her eyes forward and aware in case of walkers. "It took a few months but we took in two different camps and killed their leaders. With no one left to follow they followed him."

Driving back from hunting Daryl saw Bella and Merle walking on the main road. After beeping he parked the truck next to them. "Where ya headed?" Leaning on his door he thought that Bella's dress was rather odd. "Back to the prison to see you and yer girl baby brother." Merle studied his little brother's face and realized he shouldn't have said that. "So will ya give us a lift?" Daryl nodded. "She gets to sit in the front." This wasn't a courtesy thing, he was just pissed off at Merle, who got in to the truck bed with the deer Daryl had just killed. "I like it back 'ere anyway." Pulling back into the prison Rick came to meet him at the gate. "She's gone." The three of them looked at Rick. "Who's gone?" Daryl asked. "Lacie. We looked everywhere for her." In and angry rage Daryl got out of his truck again slamming his door then he ran up to her cell, empty. Her backpack, weapons, and even that stuffed animal she always kept on her bed. Now he'd done it, he pushed her away. Merle, Rick, and Bella had followed him. "Did she tell you she was leaving?" Rick put his hand on Daryl's shoulder. "No!" He ripped away from Rick. "She must have left last night." Hershal said holding a flower that had been stepped on at least once. "I found this on the floor walking by your cell." Daryl didn't know what to do with himself. A part of him wanted to chase after her the other part wanted to let her go, she could handle herself. Right? That day when he found her in a trunk or a car she wasn't handling herself. "I'm going!" He decided on at least trying to look for her. "We'll go with you." Bella offered one arm around Merle.

Lacie got an early start considering how much she drank the night before. Her hopes for waking up numb were dashed the moment her eyes opened. Getting down from the tree she had begun to question her decision to leave the prison. /They've probably noticed that I'm gone. They're probably worried about me./ That was the first confident thing she had said in a while. Thinking that they even care that she left. /No. They won't notice until they're hungry and ask Daryl to go fetch me so we can feed them./ That was short-lived but at least for a moment she considered the idea. After 4 miles or so she started to become a little off balance. Lacie had to find something to eat. After scanning the ground for a few moments she found animal tracks that belonged to a rabbit. Keeping close to the ground she found herself in someone's garden. At least it used to belong to someone for there was a house only a few feet away. This was the best luck she's had, instead of hunting while she was this tired she decided to check the house. The house was two stories and a light blue with white shutters that just seemed to compliment it. After pulling open the white painted door and making sure to shut it, Lacie ran into the kitchen. The walker that greeted her in the kitchen pulled her back to reality. Her swift reflexes allowed her to stab it in the head with her knife right as it lunged at her. "Okay. Clear the house first then look for food."

Merle allowed Daryl to take his bike that his little brother had been holding onto. The bike was faster and could maneuver better too. Merle on the other hand took Daryl's truck with Bella. "She could be anywhere by now." She looked out the window searching for the black haired girl. "I doubt she traveled too far at night. So the only time she had was morning to mid-afternoon. On top of that she is still recovering from that wound at most she could be a total of 8 miles away and that's pushing it." Merle's intelligence was always hidden behind his asshole personality. His words did make her feel better though. Bella already lost Lacie once, she wasn't about to do it again. "How long are we allowed to look?" She asked realizing how late it was. "Until the sun starts goin down. We ain't good to her dead but we'll search again tomorrow. Yer friend is a grown ass woman she'll be okay." Bella smiled a little before returning her focus to the forest before her.

Lacie had cleared the house in no time at all. The only walkers in it were the one in the kitchen and the one in a bedroom up stairs. The cabinets in the kitchen had a few edible things canned soups and vegetables. Popping open a can of green beans she sat at the wooden table in the dining area. The loneliness set in more as she stared at the empty table before her. It would have been nice to have Daryl, Bella and Merle there to drink with her or at least to keep her company. "It'll be fine." Talking to herself was something she had always done to make it less lonely. Even as a child Bella couldn't always be there for her so she was alone a lot. At the prison the only time she was alone was to sleep, it was a nice change, while it lasted. When she was done eating the green beans she threw away the can and headed upstairs to the master bedroom at the top of the stairs. "I'll stay here tonight then travel more in the morning." Lacie spent a few moments moving the dresser in front of the door then hopped into the bed. More comfortable than any tree she ever slept on and thicker than the prison mattress the bed was rather soft and ideal. She remembers staring at the ceiling for only moments before falling asleep.

The sun started to set its golden glow getting ready for sleep. The search team decided to give up for today. Although Daryl was very reluctant to do so. Back at the prison the 3 of them decided to head straight to bed to get an early start. This time Rick didn't bother forcing Merle and Bella's cell door to be locked. Right now they were all on the same side, the side of finding Lacie. Daryl had a hard time trying to get to sleep. Eventually he got up and headed to the gazebo for a smoke. "I'm sure you'll find her tomorrow." Carol said walking over to him, smiling. "Not if she keeps makin ground." Daryl frowned now staring at the gates. "I bet she will come back on her own while the five of you are out tomorrow." Carol hugged him. "Five?" "Yes, Maggie and Glenn want to help tomorrow. Rick would go but we need some people here." Flicking out his cigarette he hugged Carol back, kissed her on the forehead and returned to his cot.


	7. Chapter 6: War

A week had passed rather slowly. A few walkers entered the yard and provided some entertainment. Hunting every other day took sometime but not enough to forget what she had. At the prison with her "family" the apocalypse didn't seem so bad. The pain she had before had disappeared while she was there, but now the old pain was replaced with a new and crueler one. "Daryl!" Lacie woke up in a heavy sweat from a dream that had repeated itself the last three days. In her dream she had gone back to the prison to see it in ruins. The gate flattened by walkers and the bodies of the residents walking lifeless as walkers. The dream would end as Daryl's walker form looks up from eating a mangled girl. Wiping the sweat away from her face Lacie wished for the showers that the prison had. The stream by the house was never a comfortable temperature, not that she had room to complain. "Might as well start the day." Sitting up she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "This will get easier. It has too. I let myself become weak in a world that doesn't have room for a weak scared girl." Lacie had decided it was time to move on, to her this was just a hotel that she was ready to check out of.

Merle had convinced the Governor to wait on the attack, claiming that they needed more weapons. In truth he didn't even want the Governor to fight the prison anymore, his baby brother was there and unwilling to leave. Instead propaganda about the prison being a hazard was being made known to the public. The Governor fell right in to Merle's other plan though, he kept sending Merle and Bella to look for more weapons and other camps, allowing them to help Daryl look for Lacie. They weren't going to give up that easily, they would give up if and only if they found her corpse. "We allowed to go out again today?" Bella asked hopeful to return to the search. "Yeah but he wants up to go farther allowing us a few days of stayin out." Obviously they weren't getting much with the 10 mile radius he previously allowed so the Governor wanted a scope up to 30 miles. If Bella and Merle didn't return in four days they would be assumed dead. "Do we get the army truck again?" She asked packing a bag. "Yeah, it's faster travel." The duo headed out only moments later not having to say good-bye to anyone. "Hey City, why do you and my baby brother think she ain't the walking dead yet?" The only people Merle would waste this much time on were Bella and his brother. "We promised Daryl we wouldn't give up and, I don't want to give up either. Lacie has always been like my sister. It sucked that when I just got her back she had to be a hormonal bitch and ditch me like this."

A loud slamming noise came from the downstairs, it sounded as if someone sung the front door open with all their might. Peeking through the curtains she saw eight bikes parked in the lawn. Once she couldn't see any of them on the lawn she climbed out the bedroom window onto the roof of the porch. Lacie looked for a way down put her knife in her mouth and, finally deciding on using the edge, praying that the railing would holder she hopped off. The white railing did hold her but the man on watch saw her. "Hey little girl." He laughed. Lacie let go in an attempt to escape causing her to fall off the railing. The man at the same time lunged forward trying to catch her but only getting her ponytail. "Got you now!" He pulled backwards to stop her from running. In one swift maneuver she dropped the knife from her mouth to her hand and cut her hair at the hair tie. "No you don't" Then sprinted off toward the woods. "You little bitch! Hey Ronnie help me catch this bitch and I'll share!" Stopping for only a second she put her knife in her boot, took her katana out of its resting place and began running once again. The two men gained some ground on her. The man who saw her first jumped catching her leg in his hand, tripping her. "Got h-" Lacie cut the man off by putting the blade of her sword through his eye to the back of his skull, killing him instantly. "You little bitch." Lacie had been called that so many times it became like an alias, she felt that if there was a job application she would be obligated to write it down under that category. Before the man could get to her though a timid man with glasses put a bullet through Ronnie's brain.

Daryl had barely slept since Lacie ran off. Carol's words of encouragement didn't even calm his thoughts. If Lacie was found dead it would be his fault, at least that's what he thought. Daryl sat in his truck staring at the passenger seat, a part of him was half expecting her to jump in and brag that her kill was going to top his. The sound of tires of the gravel brought him back to reality though. Bella and Merle were there to help him search once again for his friend. "Baby brother let's head out while we still have daylight." Merle called from the army truck behind the light blue pickup. Daryl nodded and the two cars followed the gravel path back out the main gate of the prison. The sun was on full blast like a heater today, so much so both brothers and Bella considered putting the AC on. Wasting gas was not an option though so their heads shot down the idea almost automatically. Today they ran into a little blue house with white shutters and a garden. The lawn in front had ripped up grass with motor cycle tracks on it. The brothers parked their vehicles a bit of ways from the tire tracks just in case they had any trace of Lacie on them. Daryl found something almost immediately, a ponytail on the porch. The group passed the hair around to see if anyone could say for sure if it was hers. "Well it's black long and soft." Merle said holding it, then passed it to Bella. "A lot of people have black hair ties." Daryl took the hair back and they went in to the house. Inside it was destroyed couches flipped, tables broken, and beer bottles everywhere. "Well if she was here, it was before these guys came." Bella knew Lacie wouldn't hang with people like this. "We can't even place her here." Merle growled looking on the floor for anything. "Yes we can." Daryl held up Lacie's head band.

The man that killed the biker's name was Milton. He decided to bring her before someone named the Governor back in a place called Woodbury. He had been choosing a walker from the pit when he heard people yelling. He told some goons to go check it out, when they refused he went cautiously. The Governor told Lacie she was allowed to stay there and told Milton to get her some clean clothes that she could keep. Woodbury seemed so surreal like a town untouched by the apocalypse. "We will be giving you your own apartment." Milton smiled. "I really do hope you like it here." Lacie was unsure if she planned to stay but was willing to enjoy some nice company. "I'm sure I will. Thanks again for helping me." The apartment they gave her was nicer than the dorm she had at college. It was one bed and one bath. All the floors were wood and it was completely furnished. This was another chance to start over. "Do you need anything else?" He asked. "No thanks!" Lacie dropped her backpack on the living room floor, removed her weapons then jumped on her new couch. "I'll be back. Let me just get you some more cloths." With that Milton left her alone. Once he left she sat up to touch her now short hair. "It was worth it." When the adrenaline was going she didn't have time to analyze herself. Lacie decided to go in to the bathroom take out her knife, and attempt to fix her uneven hair. "It doesn't look that bad." KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Milton was at the door with some new cloths. "Here you are." He handed her the clothes. "You fixed you hair. It looks nice." She didn't think so but she didn't turn down the compliment.

The next day Lacie saw the sunrise again but didn't feel that longing to share it with someone. Being alone in that large queen bed was no problem at all. The soft tan blankets hugged her tightly. She almost didn't want to get out of bed but, there was a whole town to explore. When she got out to the streets the only people that were out were on the wall. A quiet walk would be good though. "Hello again Lacie." A voice from behind her made Lacie turn around just to see the Governor. "How do you like it?" He smiled. "It's a very nice town you got here." Putting an arm around her, he started to lead her forward. "I didn't want to get you into this but, another group is threatening the way of life we have here. They want what we have. I offered to allow them to come in but, they said they just want us out. We have many old and children here that couldn't survive long outside the walls. I'm telling you all this as a plea for your help today when every able bodied person we have goes to war to protect this way of life." After thinking about it for a moment Lacie agreed to help the Governor. "They don't deserve to take what you're people worked so hard for." "We head out at noon be at the front gate."

Lacie had no idea where this other camp was or how long it would take to get there. Holding the gun the Governor gave her she looked at the group of men sitting in front of her. It was obvious they were just as nervous as she was. Her brother went to war in Iraq when she was 12 years old, he didn't return the same he was more guarded. Would this change her in the same way? Or since it was a small confrontation would it be easy on her. Lacie hadn't even been at Woodbury long, she only agreed to fight because of the children, and they didn't deserve to be punished. Woodbury actually had 12 children under the age of 14. The most she had seen in a while. Some of the children were even fortunate enough to have both parents living there. The Army truck finally came to a halt about 20 minutes out. "I guess we're here. You guys ready for this." A man close to the opening said sounding a little unsure of himself. "Yeah! We'll fuck them up and be out by dinner!" The confident yelling man was right next to Lacie. He seemed to be the only one really ready for what they were about to do. The Governor could be heard yelling something at the other side. That's when the "troop" she was with was signaled to come out. Lacie couldn't believe her eyes. It was the prison.

Daryl, Merle and Bella had decided to wait to go on the search for Lacie today and it was a good thing they did. The Governor decided to attack earlier than he had old Merle. He probably suspected Merle so he told him that the war could wait. "Damn it" Daryl grinded his teeth. This was the second time Woodbury had attacked the prison. Both sides ended up dealing with a serious amount of losses. They didn't have time to plan this out this time. Rick again tried to reason with the crazy man on the other side of the gate and for the second time the crazy man had one of his cars knock down the gate. In what time they had, the prison group hid their children and older persons on a bus that took off out of there, the previous Woodbury residents and picked up weapons then began fighting. Gun shots flew in every direction, bodies were falling just as fast. This was chaos in its purest form. The noise from the war even alerted walkers who started to eat the already fallen and attack those who hadn't.

Confused Lacie couldn't figure out what to do next. She went on a mission to destroy her family. At least she didn't shoot anyone and realized where she was. The Governor and Rick were fist fighting behind the mess in the prison walls. Rick had the upper hand for a while. Punching the one eyed bastard with no mercy. However the Governor over powered rick getting on the top of the tussle. The look of murder in his eyes was so noticeable even Lacie could see it 10 feet away. There was no way she was going to let him win against Rick, that man betrayed her. Taking the gun he had given her in her hands she walked up to the fist fight. "Lacie stay out of this." The Governor yelled at her before she shot him right in the side of the head." Rick though a bit messed up nodded a thank you and ran back up to the mess. Lacie decided to go help the fight even though a wave of walkers came through. She wanted to save her prison family and apologize. Slicing through one walker after another it seemed never ending when a man picked her up and ran to a car threw her in and they drove off.

"Hey! Who do you think you are?!" The little black hair yelled at him. Merle knew this was the girl they had been searching for and wasn't going to let her die now after all the searching they had done prior to this war. "Sorry." Lacie said almost immediately after she noticed it was Daryl's big brother. "I don't know where my brother or Bella are but we can't stay here. We'll be dead in an hour." This was the third time she had been saved by someone in two months. Although she was thankful it was starting to get irritating. "How will we find them?" "We'll check the area around where the walkers eventually thin out." Time seemed to either go insanely fast or slow never in between anymore. Merle kept the truck a head of the walkers, while Lacie just leaned her head against the window. Neither of them knew what else to say to the other. The only connections they had were not there. "We need to find a place to stay for the night." She said finally as the sunset glowed through the windshield. "We'll find a house and take turns sleepin."

On a motorcycle Daryl drove Bella away from the prison. They're main focus was to get away until the walkers disperse then return and look for a sign of anybody. Bella tried to get her mind to grasp what had just happened. The pandemonium caused her to lose track of Merle. She hated to be without him. Daryl wasn't so bad she just preferred the older brother, just like she knew that he would prefer if Lacie was here on the back of his bike. Bella couldn't help herself but wish the cellphones were working. The farther they drove the later it got before they knew it, night was almost upon them. Daryl parked his brother's bike in front of a motel. "This will have to do." After grabbing a key from the desk the two searched for their room. It was the third one from the office. Bella flicked on her flashlight alerting the walker inside. Daryl shot his crossbow, an arrow hit the walker right in the forehead. Bella kicked the walker's body outside. Daryl blocked off the door way with a dresser. "There's only one bed." Bella pointed out. "You have it." Daryl laid down on the carpet.


End file.
